Immigration activist Elvira Arellano is released in US 7 years after taking refuge in church
SAN DIEGO – A Mexican woman who received widespread attention for taking refuge in a Chicago church before she was deported seven years ago is back in the United States, this time with permission.
Elvira Arellano says she was released from custody in San Diego on Thursday, two days after she sought permission to enter the U.S. without legal documents. She was released with her 5-month-old son, who was born in Mexico.
Arellano and about 150 others have sought to enter the country without legal documents at San Diego’s Otay Mesa port of entry since the beginning of last week. Many have asked for asylum or humanitarian relief.
U.S. authorities often release asylum applicants from custody, pending the outcome of their cases before immigration judges.
Arellano says she plans to return to Chicago.
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